Floating Water Lilies
by bj21
Summary: Sayuri was rude and disrespectful, and Tobirama doesn't like the way she acts one bit. But in the end, they learn some valuable lessons from each other, some more important than others. Tobirama/OC Rating may change later on.
1. First Impressions

**Well, for those of you who were wondering when was chapter 4 gonna come, it will come soon, just as soon as I finish going over Chapters 1-3 with my beta. This is the re-edited version of Chapter 1 so… enjoy! :D**

**Thank you Iroka for betaing my story! ^w^**

**Naruto (c) Kishimoto**

* * *

><p>Chapter 1- First impressions<p>

The sun shone high above the sky, pouring light over everything under its domain. A hawk flew in front of the star's rays, casting a shadow down on the ground. Sayuri looked up to the soaring creature as she strode along with her clan, the Inazuma, as they travelled towards the newly founded Konohagakure. She sighed, envying the flying hawk for its freedom, free to fly wherever it may please.

"We're almost to the village," Aina smiled turning to look at her family riding behind her and her husband, "shouldn't take long now, really."

"Did you hear that, Nee-chan?" Kyou said excitedly, trotting up beside his sister, "we're almost to there!" Kyou was Sayuri's younger brother, the second child of the Inazuma's clan leader, Inazuma Kaito. He had short flowing black hair which reached just above his shoulders and fair skin. He had clear onyx eyes and a slender, but toned body and he wore indigo colored armour with a long sleeved black shirt and pants underneath.

"I heard, Kyou. I'm not deaf." Sayuri shot back at him, a playful grin on her face. She had black hair, tied back into a ponytail, with two bangs that framed her face. She had the same fair skin as her brother but instead of black eyes, she had brown ones. The grin quickly disappeared from her face as she turned her doe brown eyes up to the sky, shielding it from the bright light with her hand, "and it's about time too! We've been riding for ages and it's insanely hot today!"

Kyou chuckled; he knew his sister wasn't always the patient one. "I wonder what the village will look like…" he mused to himself.

"Probably full of trees," Sayuri shrugged, "since its founder is the great Senju Hashirama, right?"

"Yeah," the younger boy nodded, "well, technically he built the place, but he wasn't the only one who founded it. It was originally founded by the Senju clan and the Uchiha clan, the two greatest clans on earth."

"Of course, trust someone like you to know about these things." Sayuri half-spat, a trace of envy in her tone. "But I also heard that one of the founders, Uchiha Madara defected from the village not too long ago. Probably went all butt-hurt because he wasn't chosen for the seat of Hokage." She snickered.

"Yeah," Kyou grinned back at his elder sister. He tore his sight away from her and focused his eyes up ahead, grinning even wider when he saw the giant gates right up ahead. "That must be the village!"

"Finally…" Sayuri sighed. She kicked her horse on the side slightly to make the mare gallop faster. Kyou followed, riding closely behind his older sister as the village gates came closer and closer to view.

Despite still being recently founded, the Konoha streets were buzzing with activity. Carpenters were going to and fro; off to go build more infrastructure in the village. Shinobi and civilian alike were gathered around stalls, checking out what was for sale. Children ran freely in the streets, playing a game of ninja tag or hide and seek.

"Man!" A brown haired shinobi cried out, folding his hands behind his head, a contented smile on his face. He wore a simple black kimono-like top, held closed by a brown obi. Underneath, he wore a fishnet shirt and brown pants. He also had the symbol of the Sarutobi on his back. "I can't wait for that bath house to be finished!"

"Heh," the shinobi beside him smirked. He had snow white hair and a relatively paler complexion compared to his friend. He had bright red eyes and three red streaks on his face, two on his cheeks, and one on his chin. He wore an outfit similar to the Sarutobi but with a blue top and black pants. And he also bore the symbol of the Senju clan on his sleeves. "Knowing you, Sasuke, you'll probably end up peeking on the ladies' side of the bath once it's done."

"Will not!" Sasuke pouted, looking very offended, "if anyone's going to do that, it'll probably be you, Tobirama!"

"Excuse me?" Tobirama stopped walking and looked at his friend incredulously. "Who exactly was the person who spied on the kunoichi while they bathed in the river?"

"It was by _accident, _damn it!" The Sarutobi stressed, but Tobirama simply shook his head, that sly grin never leaving his face.

"If I remember correctly, you enjoyed seeing them like that."

"Who doesn't enjoy looking at women while they're bathing?"

"I don't."

"Liar, you were there with me and your mouth was practically hanging open!"

Tobirama blinked, a small blush crawling up his ashen cheeks. Sasuke smirked, enjoying his victory over his best friend. "I… It was… Y-You pulled me over and FORCED me to see them naked!"

"Save your excuses, you're just as big as a pervert as I am." The Sarutobi smirked.

"So you ADMIT that you're a pervert?" Tobirama arched an eyebrow and smirked, crossing his arms in front of his chest, "Sheesh, and you wonder why Mayu always hits you."

"Wha-? No she doesn-"

"Sasuke! Tobirama!" The two shinobi turned their heads towards the direction of the voice that cried out. A young woman came walking towards them. She was not very tall, but she did have that curvy, buxom figure. Her hair was done in a simple bun atop her head and she had side bangs that just brushed to the left of her face. The woman wore a simple kimono, which would fool the normal man into thinking she was any normal civilian if not for the hitai-ate that was strapped to her hips. On her left arm, she carried some bags which contained various items from the market and on her right; she carried a little boy who looked to be about two. Sasuke and Tobirama grinned, walking up to meet the kunoichi halfway.

"Mayu!" They both called back, smiling as she approached.

"Hi, Hiruzen!" Tobirama smiled, ruffling the young Sarutobi's hair fondly. Hiruzen gurgled happily, grabbing hold of his godfather's arm hand as it stayed on the top of his little head. Mayu giggled, passing her son over to Tobirama who cradled him in the crook of his arm, chuckling when Hiruzen decided to play with his hair.

"I thought you were going grocery shopping today, Mayu." Sasuke said.

"I just finished," Mayu grinned, holding up the bags she was carrying. "I was just here to tell Tobirama something,"

"What do you want to tell me?" Tobirama questioned. He looked and saw that Hiruzen was reaching out for Sasuke, so he made the motion pass his godson over to his father.

"Oh, well I happened to run into Mito-san in the market and she wanted me to tell you that Hashirama-sama wanted you to-" The bronze-haired kunoichi paused, giggling behind her hand as the Hokage's brother yelped when Hiruzen tugged on his hair a little bit too hard. "-She wanted me tell you that Hashirama-sama wanted you in his office,"

"Good boy, Hiruzen!" Sasuke encouraged his son, earning him a piercing glare from Tobirama, "that's right, you go punish your naughty godfather for calling your daddy a pervert!"

"You ARE a pervert!" Tobirama shot back. "Anyway, I gotta go. I wonder what Nii-san wants with me, this time." He smiled at the little Sarutobi, moving away before the kid's hands got a hold of his silver locks again. "You coming, Sasuke?"

"Huh? Oh yeah!" The Sarutobi said, passing his son to Mayu. "I have to pass my report from my last mission anyway," he flashed his wife a grin, waving at her as he began to follow after Tobirama. "See you later, Mayu!"

"Bye!" Mayu waved, disappearing off into the living section of the village, leaving the two men to walk off towards the Administration Building.

"Hiruzen's growing up pretty fast," Tobirama grinned at his best friend. Sasuke returned the Senju's smile with a proud smirk.

"Yeah, he is. He's a quick learner too!" He boasted, the proud expression remaining on his face. Tobirama rolled his eyes and shook his head, "You know, Tobirama, Hiruzen's actually quite fond of you."

"I noticed," Tobirama smiled, staring off into the blue sky above. Sasuke blinked before a sly smirk crept up his lips and he nudged his friend on the side with his elbow. The white haired Senju looked at him, a confused expression on his face, "What?"

"If you want kids that much then… Why don't you go off and marry someone already?"

"Who ever said that I wanted kids? Tobirama asked, "I just said that Hiruzen was growing pretty quickly, that's all!"

"Liar," Sasuke made something akin to a pout, "I could see it so clearly in your face! Plus, if you don't get married now, when will you?"

"When I get tired of living my bachelor life, that's when," the Senju deadpanned, brushing way past the Sarutobi. Sasuke sighed, rolling his eyes before catching up with his friend, "Now come on, I wouldn't want to keep Nii-san waiting,"

And with that, Tobirama hopped up onto rooftops, headed off to the administration building with Sasuke in tow.

* * *

><p>Hashirama sat on his desk, his eyes scanning a document vigorously. Once he appeared to be satisfied with what was in it, he smiled and nodded silently to himself, setting it down, stamping on his seal and signing it. He smiled at the document one more time and handed it off to the ninja waiting by the door.<p>

"Here you go," He said. "Notify the Akimichi clan that they may move into the village by tomorrow if they wish."

"Hai, Hokage-sama." The ninja nodded curtly and formed the ram hand seal before disappearing in a cloud of smoke. The Senju leader sighed, leaning back on his chair. That was one more clan added to the village… One more clan added to their family. He turned around, casting his brown gaze onto the lively village streets below. A small smile began tugging on his lips as he saw ninjas and civilians interact with each other, children playing on the streets with no fear of being harmed, it was all too good to be true that sometimes Hashirama was convinced he was dreaming.

"_But I'__m not…" _ he thought to himself. _"This is true… This is all true. The dream that I'__ve kept alive all these years, the dream that I thought was nearly impossible… is finally coming true." _He sighed, an image of Madara suddenly flashing in his mind. _"If only you stayed long enough to see it grow, Madara…"_

A sudden knock on his door tore him from his thoughts. He turned around again, casually arranging the documents on his desk, "Enter."

Tobirama opened the door, stepping inside the office. Sasuke followed him, shutting the door behind him. Hashirama's smile grew even wider upon seeing his little brother, "Ah… Tobi, Sasuke."

"Hashirama-sama," Sasuke bowed curtly, stepping forward and handing over a rolled up scroll. "Here's my report from my last mission, sir."

"Ah, thank you, Sasuke." Hashirama smiled, taking the scroll from him.

"So, what's up? Mayu told me Mito told her that you wanted to see me." Tobirama asked, plopping down on the chairs situated in front of the Hokage's desk. Hashirama chuckled, he loved it when his brother would still address him in a casual manner, it gave him a break from all the formality everyone was giving him.

"I called you over because another clan is about to arrive to the village soon. I thought it's proper that you should go greet them along with me." Hashirama shrugged.

"Ah…" Tobirama nodded. "Ok, I guess it's my responsibility to do so anyway. Which clan is moving in again?"

"The Inazuma."

Sasuke blinked, "They're the clan in the Land of Fire that specializes in Raiton jutsu, right?"

The Hokage nodded in agreement. "Not a very big clan at all, but yes, they are excellent with Raiton techniques. Father once mentioned facing off with them, if you recall, Tobi."

"Oh yeah…" Tobirama gave a reminiscent smile as he remembered his and Hashirama's boyhood and their father's tales of life on the battlefield and how he and Hashirama would listen and watch with eyes wide with wonder. "But… We never faced off with them personally, when you became leader, Nii-san."

"Now that you mentioned it… We never did." Hashirama thought about it for a while.

"We did though," Sasuke said, grabbing the attention of the two Senju brothers. "They're a formidable clan and their lightning Justus are… Well, not necessarily the best, but they're strong."

Tobirama was about to speak when suddenly a puff of smoke appeared in the middle of the room. When the haze cleared, it revealed a tall brunette woman, her hair done in a peculiar ponytail. She had a pointed chin, fair skin and wore silver coloured armor with a black shirt and pants underneath. The kunoichi looked at the three men in the room before bowing curtly in Hashirama's direction. "Sorry to have interrupted, Hokage-sama."

"No, it's fine, Toka." Hashirama dismissed, "So, what is it?"

"I'm just here to tell you that the Inazuma clan has arrived." Toka relayed. Hashirama nodded and stood up from his chair.

"Let's go meet them, shall we?"

Tobirama nodded, following his brother outside of the office before looking at his best friend, "You coming, Sasuke?"

"Nah," The Sarutobi shook his head and grinned, "I don't think I have any business with the clan as of the moment. Want to meet up at the training fields after this, though?"

"Sure," Tobirama grinned back, watching as Sasuke waved at him before disappearing in a cloud of smoke. And with that, he shut the door and began to head for the village gates, ready to greet the new clan.

* * *

><p>"Sheesh, how much longer do we have to wait?" Sayuri growled, only to get a look from her father.<p>

"Patience, Sayuri." Kaito reprimanded his daughter. "The Hokage has many things to attend to, not just us."

The clan heiress huffed, rolling her eyes in annoyance. "We're the newly arrived people in this village, shouldn't we be on top of their agenda?"

Kaito glared at Sayuri, "Sayuri." He said, voice stern as ever, "stop being rude! Hokage-sama is-"

"Inazuma-sama!" A deep voice sounded, cutting off Kaito. He turned around and gave a curt bow upon seeing who it was that addressed him.

"Hokage-sama…" The Inazuma clan leader said. Hashirama smiled and made a motion for him to stand up from his bowing position. "My clan and I are very pleased to be welcomed here in your village."

"Ah, Inazuma-sama, it's not only my village, it belongs to every single one of us here." Hashirama grinned at the man. He turned to look at the sea of shinobi, all belonging to the Inazuma clan and said, "Welcome, all of you to Konohagakure!"

Tobirama's eyes scanned the crowd as murmurs erupted from it and a bunch of bobbing black heads came. His sight however landed on one particular young lady standing behind the clan leader, looking like her patience was slowly running dry. He felt his eye twitch slightly, not liking the blatant disrespect that she was giving his brother.

"Now, we have some business to settle, I believe, before your clan can permanently settle in the village." Hashirama stated, a slightly more serious expression coming on his face.

"Ahhh, yes." Kaito replied, his voice sounding more serious as well.

"Your clan is free to have a look in the village, by the way, if they want to." The Hokage added, turning his eyes to look at the clan. "You can explore the village on your own and if not, my brother Tobirama will be more than happy to help you find your way around."

And with that, the Hokage and Kaito turned around towards the Administration Building to settle things. As the clan began to disperse one by one, Tobirama came and stepped closer towards Sayuri, who stared up at him not even flinching in his presence.

"What do you want?" She glared at him, brunette eyes meeting sanguine ones.

"I would just like to know why you looked so bored earlier while my brother was welcoming in your clan." Tobirama drawled on, voice sounding casual but had underlying tones of annoyance in it.

"Well, can't blame me," Sayuri shrugged, "I'm not really the type that has a lot of patience on me."

"I bet it can't kill you to at least pay a smidgen of attention, right?"

"I don't understand why you're getting worked up over this," she crossed her arms, facing the Senju. She was only about two inches shorter than him so he didn't really intimidate her. "It's really none of your business and plus the Hokage didn't even seem to notice,"

"Look, it takes a lot to get me worked up but I DO NOT take kindly to people who show disrespect towards my older brother,"

"Oooh, a little protective, are we?" Sayuri smirked, slightly infuriating Tobirama even more. "I would imagine so; I mean you do hide under your brother's shadow,"

"Shut it," Tobirama growled, annoyed that this girl had touched something in him that he thought he had buried a long time ago. "And I suppose you have all the confidence in the world,"

"Hn," Sayuri smirked, "test me."

"Nee-chan, what are you doing?" Kyou snarled, yanking his sister's arm. "You can't be serious about challenging him! Don't you know who that is? He's Senju Tobirama! The greatest Suiton user in the ninja world!"

"So? There's no body of water around here," She shrugged, "plus… lightning is dangerous when it comes in contact with water," A smirk played itself out on her pretty little face. "So, you wanna fight?"

"Hn. But we obviously can't fight here, in front of the gates." Tobirama said before shrugging and turning away, "and I really have better things to do than pick a fight with a newcomer."

Sayuri glared daggers into his back as he turned around to walk away. "Sheesh, Nee-chan," Kyou whined, shaking his head. "We just got into the village and you're already causing trouble!"

"Hey!" The Inazuma clan heir shot back at her brother, "he approached me first! He was the one who started getting his hair in a knot over me!"

"Well, not listening while Hokage-sama was talking was disrespectful, Nee-chan. And what you said to him was really offensive, especially the one about him hiding behind his brother's shadow-"

"Who's side are you on?"

Kyou sighed, "I don't even know why I bother to argue with you… Can we just go explore the village now?"

Sayuri smirked, before grabbing hold of the younger boy's hand and began dragging him off to explore Konohagakure. "Sure, why not? Let's go hit a food shop first, I'm starving!"

* * *

><p>A breeze brew by the grass, making them dance and bow in its mighty power. The tree leaves rustle in response to its touch, sending some leaves falling down onto the ground. A shuriken came whizzing, interrupting the wind's peaceful blow before imbedding itself onto the log.<p>

"Wow…" Sasuke whistled, looking at his friend, "new arrival and already showing signs of disrespect, huh?"

"Yeah." Tobirama said, firing another set of his weapons at the log, all landing perfectly on the target, "she has some gall to talk back to me AND ignore her superiors."

"Heh, is she hot tempered?"

"Seems like it." The white haired Senju rolled his eyes, watching the kunai Sasuke threw imbed itself into his target log. "She even challenged me to a fight…"

"Why didn't you agree?" Sasuke asked quizzically, only to be sent back a look that screamed 'isn't it obvious?'

"Are you kidding me? I'm not going to start a fuss out there, in front of the village gates while they're wide open, nonetheless." Tobirama stated as if it was the most obvious answer in the world. Sasuke nodded in agreement when suddenly, a rustle from the bushes came by. On instinct, the two shinobi were immediately on high alert. Even though Konoha was a safe place to be, caged away from all the conflict of the outside world, years of battlefield experience taught them to be on guard always so that the enemy cannot sneak up on them. However, the duo relaxed when they saw Sayuri and Kyou stumble out of the bushes.

Tobirama's eyes narrowed at the sight of Sayuri and when the kunoichi caught sight of him, he was returned with a similar reaction.

"Oooh…" Sasuke smirked, elbowing the Senju on the side, not noticing the current glare he was sending Sayuri's way. "She looks like real babe. Slightly short changed in the B&B department, but still has a pretty face, hmm?"

"Careful now, Sasuke…" Tobirama whispered sharply, "'cuz that's the girl I was talking about."

"NE?" Sasuke looked genuinely shocked. His brown eyes went from Tobirama, then to Sayuri and back to Tobirama. "She doesn't look mean! In fact she seems almost sweet!"

"Well, looks aren't everything, Sasuke."

"Huh, never thought I'd run into you again," Sayuri drawled, a small smirk replacing her scowl, "I'm guessing this is the training field, huh? Are you still up for my challenge?"

"Are you serious about fighting me?" Tobirama questioned.

"I just want to see what you're capable of," Sayuri shrugged, "and to test if you're really as great as everybody says… Or just someone praised just because his brother is considered god of the ninja world…" she smirked, seeing the really ticked off look on his face.

"You're treading into deep water girl…" Tobirama growled low. Sasuke and Kyou backed away from the two ninja, not wanting to get caught in the flurry of jutsus about to happen. The Sarutobi looked at the younger boy and said,

"Is she always this rash about things?"

"Unfortunately yes." Kyou sighed, shaking his head. "Once she gets her mind set on something, it's difficult to try and make her change her mind…"

There was utmost silence in the training field all of a sudden, and the wind blew shaking the trees and making leaves dance around them. The silence was broken when Sayuri threw a bunch of shuriken at her opponent, the whizzing noise breaking the once silent surroundings.

Tobirama smirked, hopping out of the way and into the air, taking some kunai out of his holster and sending them flying Sayuri's way. Quick to retaliate, she threw a kunai there too. The clang of metal against metal rang through the air as the kunai crashed into each other. She bolted towards Tobirama who was now down on the ground, raising a fist to punch him.

The Senju caught her fist and smirked, "Got anymore than that?" The kunoichi's eye twitched and sent her next fist flying, only to be caught by Tobirama as well. She smirked, "Raiton: Rakurai!" She chanted and a crackling noise was heard as electricity poured forth from her hands sending the electric chakra flowing in Tobirama's body.

A growl of pain came escaped from the Senju's throat as the Raiton user hopped back, smirking in her victory.

"Whoa… Using a justu without even weaving seals?" Sasuke said in awe, turning to Kyou for an explanation.

"That jutsu is a technique that is common to our clan, in fact anybody who's an Inazuma can do this. We use it so often that it's almost second nature to our clan members, we practically don't need hand seals." The young shinobi explained before both of them turned their eyes towards the two who were fighting. Tobirama had managed to recover from Sayuri's electric strike and began to furiously weave seals.

"Suiton: Teppodama no jutsu!" He cried, firing several bullets of water at his opponent. Sayuri dodged most of them, only to have missed one which was coming directly at her. Quickly, she brought up her arms in an attempt to shield herself. The high-speed water torrent hit her arms full force, propelling her back until she hit a tree.

The water master smirked, charging at Sayuri while she was disoriented after the hit. His hand formed one unique seal and chanted, "Suiton: Suiryuudan no jutsu!"

Kyou watched in wonder as droplets and eventually streams of water came out of practically no where until they moulded itself into the shape of a dragon, headed towards his sister. "SAYURI!" He called, "LOOK OUT!"

Sayuri snapped out of her daze just in time and hopped out of the way, dodging the water dragon that slammed into the tree, clearing out the rest of the foliage behind it, leaving a cloud of dust. "What the hell?" she thought, "there's… there's no water source nearby. So how did he manage to sum up that much water out of thin air?" The dragon burst out of the flurry of debris, still aiming for its target.

"Shit…" the kunoichi cursed under her breath, rapidly forming seals with her hands. "Raiton: Kaminari Hari!" Lightning chakra poured forth from her hands and she pressed them against the dragon. The lighting began travelling through the water.

"Shit!" Tobirama thought, letting go of his control over the water beast so that he could separate himself from the current that was just aiming for him. The technique fell apart, leaving the training grounds wet as the water began raining down.

"No… No wonder he's called the greatest Suiton user on earth…" Kyou whispered silently.

"Hn, that's not even close to his full potential." Sasuke bragged, "He's really holding back, I tell you. If he wasn't, that dragon would've been twice the size that it was right now!"

"Doesn't he exhaust a lot of chakra though?"

"Well… in addition to using his own chakra to create water, he also uses the humidity in the air so it doesn't tire him out completely,"

"Ah…" Kyou looked back to the battle waging on between water and lightning. The two ninjas were already wet from the water dragon collapsing yet they still kept at each other.

"Raiton: Satsuei boshi!" Sayuri chanted after a flurry of seals, planting her hand on the wet ground, spreading electricity like a wildfire. Tobirama cursed, leaping up into the air to avoid getting shocked again, but he knew he wasn't going to stay up there for long, thanks to gravity.

"It's going to be hard fighting her while the ground's wet… She can channel electricity there at any time and if I get hit… I'll be paralyzed…" Tobirama thought as he began his descent towards the ground. "But… earlier when she hit me, I wasn't paralyzed for long."

Tobirama dropped to the ground, only to block a few shuriken thrown his way. "Of course!" he exclaimed in his mind, finally figuring it out. "The technique is only meant to paralyze an enemy long enough to land a killing strike on them. It wasn't meant to freeze them forever, so…" A devious smirk found its way to his lips as he watched the Inazuma begin to form seals again.

"Heh, finally caught you!" Sayuri cried out, "Raiton: Satsuei boshi!" A stream of lightning spread across the wet ground and hit the Senju, caging him in electricity. Tobirama grit his teeth, feeling the electricity seep in right down to his bones. Once the lightning subsided, he no longer felt like he could move any of his limbs, "Perfect…"

"Hn, looks like I win this round, huh?" The kunoichi smirked as she walked towards her opponent, spinning a kunai on one finger. "Looks like I was right, you're not as good as everybody tells me you are, just somebody hiding under Hashirama's great shadow…" she taunted.

"Heh, I guess you're right." Tobirama admitted with a bitter smirk. "I guess I'm really not as great as everyone makes me out to be…" he twitched his fingers slightly and saw that they began to move a bit. "_Just a little bit longer…" _

"Damn straight!" She smirked.

"I can't believe it…" Kyou gasped, "He… LOST?"

"Heh," Sasuke smirked, "just watch and see..."

Tobirama continued to play along with Sayuri's taunts before sliding his gaze towards his hand again, smirking inwardly when he saw it move not freely, but good enough to cast a seal. "I guess that's just the way it is…" Sayuri closed her eyes and nodded proudly. Unknown to her, the Senju had begun casting a seal with his one hand. "But I guessed WRONG!"

Sayuri opened her eyes, surprised at her opponent's sudden comment when a torrent of water slammed into her and slammed her against a rock wall. Disoriented, she tried to make sense of her surroundings when suddenly another rush of water came aiming for her, effectively pinning down her arms.

Tobirama, having recovered from the paralysis of the lightning justu, stepped over to the pinned down kunoichi. "I win." he declared with a proud smirk, "Maybe next time you'd think twice before belittling someone's abilities."

The black haired kunoichi stared at him for a while before looking down, "Hn."

Tobirama looked at her, letting the water restraints fall before extending a hand towards her. If there was one thing from Hashirama that managed to rub off on him all these years is to help someone fallen, regardless if he was enemy or not. Sayuri just stared at his hand for a while, unable to comprehend why he would still offer her some help.

"Are you going to take it or not?" Tobirama's voice sounded like it was in the middle of amusement and annoyance. Finally, Sayuri gave in and took his hand, using it to help her stand up from the rubble.

"Thanks…" She muttered inaudibly, but the white haired Senju heard it and a ghost of a smile appeared on his face.

"Hn," he just said and turned away from her. "Hey Sasuke, wanna get some dango or something?"

"S-Sure!" The Sarutobi agreed, following his friend out of the training ground.

"Nee-chan? Are you ok?" Kyou asked, fussing over his sister. "See this is what you get for being so rash! I told you not to take on someone of his calibre! And-"

Sayuri managed to tune out her brother's rambling, fixing a curious gaze at the white haired shinobi who left the training field. _"Maybe next time… You'__ll think twice before belittling someone__'__s abilities…" _his words bounced in her mind as she watched him disappear from view, she frowned slightly and for the first time in her life, she felt embarrassment cover her like a blanket, thinking twice about what she said towards him.

"Nee-chan?" Kyou stopped talking, noticing that his sister grew really quiet.

"Yeah?" Sayuri asked, looking at him.

"Is something wrong?"

The kunoichi looked at the direction Tobirama disappeared off to before shaking her head, "Nah, come on, let's go find mom and dad or something."

"They're going to kill you once they found out what happened, you know?"

"Hm. IF they found out what happened, that is,"

And with that, the two Inazuma siblings left the training field, leaving behind wet grounds and a mound of rubble in their wake.

* * *

><p><strong>So ends chapter one of Floating Water Lilies~ :D I hope you guys enjoyed reading it, including the new changes that I've made. <strong>

**This story has been forming in my head for a while, I thought I might as well upload it to the site. ^^ So... Read and review please! Tell me what you think of it or give me some points where I could improve on. ^^**

**Reviews are not only for members, remember that! So even if you're not part of the site, tell me what you think!**


	2. Teammates

**Naruto belongs to Kishimoto. **

**And thank you Iroka for beta duties ^^**

* * *

><p>Chapter 2- Teammates<p>

It was about quarter after noon and still the village streets were alive with activity. The smell of food wafted around the area where most food stalls could be found; the aroma of beef, chicken, freshly made broth and bread along with the salty-sweet whiff of dango sauce combined together harmoniously.

"Heehee…" Sasuke grinned, chomping off a piece of dango off his stick. "Thanks for the dango, Tobirama!"

"No problem," Tobirama grinned, biting one of the sweet, sticky rice balls off of the skewer.

"I'll think of this as our little way of celebrating your win over that arrogant chick!" The Sarutobi declared, raising his skewered treat into the air in a celebratory fashion. He looked at his friend who gave a modest smile before lowering the dango, his face forming into a thoughtful pout, "sheesh, I wonder what makes her so arrogant anyway!"

"Well… She is the heiress to her clan I believe," Tobirama shrugged, the end of his dango stick sticking out of his mouth like a toothpick, "who knows maybe they treat her like she's the god of her clan or something and all the attention got to her head."

"Hmm, true." Sasuke shrugged, finishing off the last of the sweet treat. He tossed the stick into a nearby trashcan, shoving his hands down into his pockets, "so are you doing anything tomorrow?"

"Hmm…" Tobirama gave a thoughtful look, thinking if he had something to do the next day, "I have a mission tomorrow. I'm supposed to hunt down a group of rogue ninjas stirring trouble up in the nearby towns…" the red-eyed Senju said, chomping off the last of the dango and tossed his stick into a nearby trash bin.

"Ahh…" Sasuke nodded.

"Why?"

"I was about to ask you if you could come back to the bath house with me," the brown haired ninja said, a perverted smirk on his face, "I mean… the person there said it would probably open tomorrow, no? So… I wanted to check it out!"

Tobirama sighed, shaking his head, "You are honestly the BIGGEST perv I've ever seen!"

Sasuke made a face, "I told you I am not a pervert!" he huffed.

"You're so lucky Mayu understands you and your little… 'hobbies'."

"Both you and her know that I mean no harm," Sasuke gave a shrug, looking around the market, his eyes following a bunch of young boys running across the street, "and plus, in our time you know that men usually have hobbies like mine so it's not like I'm the only one who's doing it."

"Whatever you say…"

"Anyway… Your mission is a hunting mission, huh? Do you think I can com-, " He stopped, trying to process what could've made the Senju's expression a mix of surprise and disbelief, "what?"

"You really would abandon your little trip to the hot springs to come with me?" Tobirama asked in mock disbelief. The Sarutobi frowned and punched his friend on the shoulder half-heartedly.

"Duh," he smirked as Tobirama pouted at him, rubbing the spot he had punched a little bit too hard, "plus it's been a while since we went on a mission together, all we've been doing lately is flying solo!"

"I guess you're right," the Water master smiled, looking up to the bright blue sky, little with small puffs of clouds drifting by, "so you wanna come with me to Nii-san's office and tell him you're tagging along with me?"

"Sure!" Sasuke grinned, before the friendly smile turned into a mischievous grin, "want to race?"

Tobirama blinked before smirking, "You're on."

"First one to the Administration building buys dinner after the mission, ok?" Sasuke said, taking his stance, ready to run. From the corner of his eyes, he could see his friend slide into the same stance.

"Got'cha."

"Ok, when I say go," the Sarutobi flicked his brown eyes upwards towards the rooftops, "on your mark… get set…" suddenly, he felt a rush of wind beside him only to find that Tobirama was already taking off on the rooftops. He growled happily, chasing after his friend.

"I didn't say GO yet, Tobirama!" He called as he caught up with him.

"So?" Tobirama called back, hopping to a higher building, doubling his speed.

"Heh," Sasuke scoffed, doubling his own speed in order to catch up with Tobirama. The two shinobi continued their race to the Hokage's building with bright smiles on their faces, laughter ringing all around, acting like little children, living out the childhood that was cut dreadfully short during their time.

* * *

><p>"I won; you're buying dinner after the mission."<p>

"You got a head start!"

"So? You said nothing about not having head starts, so I assumed the only condition was to buy dinner after someone lost!"

Hashirama smiled, shaking his head. He could recognize those voices from a mile away. Just as he had expected, a knock on his door sounded but was still followed by bouts of argument. "Enter…" he said, a chuckle in his tone. The door creaked open, revealing a pleased looking Tobirama and a very displeased Sasuke. "I assume Sasuke lost the race this time?"

"You bet," Hashirama's little brother grinned.

"He got a head start…" Sasuke muttered in mock hate. The Hokage chuckled again before going back to skimming the document he had in hand.

"So… What can I help you with?"

"Sasuke wants to join me in my mission tomorrow," Tobirama relayed, sounding a tad bit more serious than before. "Is that ok?"

"Of course it is!" Hashirama exclaimed, "But… would you two mind if I added a third member to your team?"

"A… third… member?" The two blinked simultaneously, "why?"

"Well…" The Senju clan leader set the document down for a moment, folding his hands in front of his face, "until now, we've only been sending out two-man teams and solo missions. While the success rate is relatively ok… It's not at its best. So I've been thinking, what if we sent out three man teams?"

"With three ninja…" Sasuke voiced out, already forming a scenario in his head, "it would depend on the power being balanced throughout the team… But of course, it would most likely up the success rate of the mission."

"But then again…" Tobirama interjected, making a two pairs brown eyes fixate on him, "the success will also depend on how well the members cooperate with each other. But some clans aren't quite settled with each other just yet, given what they went through in the past, so they're obviously not going to work together as smoothly as Sasuke and I do,"

"True… True…" Hashirama nodded, considering what the two had to say, "so I was thinking about putting a third member to your team that's from another clan. A clan that you two are not familiar with and a member that you probably don't know that well yet and we'll see how well you pull together,"

Sasuke and Tobirama nodded together, "Right."

"I'll get to work on finding someone who would complement your skills, but for now…" The Hokage pulled out a scroll and laid it out on the desk, "let me tell you the details of the mission again so that Sasuke knows what he's getting in to…" He unravelled the scroll, containing all the details of the request.

"So," he began, "the mission was requested by Takahashi Setsuo of the town of Tanazuka Gai. He says that some rogue ninja, about chunin to jonin rank lead by one who seems to be a jonin, have been rustling up some trouble in the town. I.e. Stealing, terrorizing people and a suspected account of murder has also been recently reported."

"Why are they doing this though?" Sasuke asked,

"Well… That's what they want to you to find out," Hashirama said, "the request is for you to find out their motives and ultimately drive them out of town or eliminate them completely. They prefer the latter, actually,"

"Hm…" Tobirama nodded. "They're probably some rogues who're just looking to start up a fuss. I doubt it's anything really serious. Anyway, when will we know of our other teammate?"

"Tomorrow, I'll tell him/her to meet you by the gates." Hashirama smiled. Sasuke and Tobirama looked at each other and nodded, smiling before turning to Hashirama and bidding him goodbye. After they had left, Hashirama sat back on his desk, taking out a small book containing information on every single active shinobi in the village.

"_Now… who's the deal partner for them both?" _He asked himself, scanning the book. He put it down and grabbed another one, though it only had the names of the new clans that came in and were registered as citizens of Konoha. He stopped flicking the pages, _"Hmm…"_

* * *

><p>"You did what? With who?"<p>

Sayuri sighed, hissing slightly when her mother wrapped a bandage around a scratch on her arm. How did her dad even know she was lying about having a spar with Kyou and just accidentally fell in the lake? "I picked a fight… With Senju Tobirama."

"But why? Don't you know what position he holds in this village? He's a founder! On top of that he's also the Hokage's brother and the co-leader of the Senju clan!" Kaito ranted on, looking like he was going to explode out of sheer anger, "how could you show such disrespect?"

"She… It wasn't out of disrespect, dad!" Kyou interrupted, earning his father's glare. He gulped, tying to muster up the voice to keep on going, "she challenged him to a spar… and he agreed." He didn't even bother to tell their father about the taunts his sister used on the Konoha founder, because if he did, he feared his father just might pass out; out of frustration.

Kaito stopped for a while, looking at his daughter, then to his son, then back to his daughter. "Is this true?" He asked suspiciously.

"Yeah," Sayuri nodded, trying to pass it off as nonchalant, "I challenged him, he took it on, couldn't back out of it then,"

The Inazuma clan leader sighed, sitting across the room from his family, "Regardless, you should be more careful about who you challenge. Stop being so rash about these decisions, Sayuri." He stopped, adopting a more serious expression, "remember that you are also the clan's heiress. One day you'll be in charge of this clan and reckless decision making is not a trait any clan leader should have. One wrong decision and everything could come apart."

Sayuri bit her lip and nodded slowly. Inwardly though, she hated to have this kind of responsibility. It was too much to worry about, too much to _care _about. Having a lot of people depending on her made her feel uncomfortable, intimidated even.

Aina finished treating her daughter's wounds and sat back, "There, you're all fixed," she smiled at her. Sayuri looked up and smiled back, muttering her thanks meant for only her mother to hear. "Oh and… Kaito," she turned to look at her husband who looked at her questioningly, "Don't you have something to give them?"

"Oh yeah…" Kaito said, forgetting about his anger for a moment, remembering what his wife meant. He went upstairs for a moment before returning back down, two pieces of black cloth which looked like headbands, in his hands. "Here you go," he said, handing his two children the strange items.

Kyou blinked at the mysterious object before flipping it over, gazing at the metal plate engraved with the Konoha symbol on it. "What… What is this?"

"They're forehead protectors, but you can technically wear them any way you want," Kaito said, bringing out his own and tying it onto his left arm for emphasis. "It symbolizes that you're a ninja, not a civilian. They were given to us by Hokage-sama, to help identify shinobi from non-shinobi. With that on, it technically qualifies you to go on missions and serve the village and the like…"

"Sweet!" Sayuri smirked, deciding to wear her forehead protector around her neck, "maybe I'll get 'round to doing a mission today!"

"Now now…" Aina chided, putting a gentle yet firm hand on her daughter's shoulder, "remember what your father said about rash decision making, Sayuri. You're not yet even healed from your spar with Tobirama-sama."

The black haired kunoichi frowned and sighed, slumping slightly. Suddenly, a knock came from the front door. "I'll get it!" Kyou volunteered, bolting for the door and opened it, revealing Toka standing by their doorstep. His black eyes zoned in on the Senju crest on her armour collar. _"Oh crap…" _he gulped, _"What if this was about the fight earlier!"_

"Umm… Can I help you with something, Senju-sama?" he finally recovered his tongue.

"Yes, I would just like to know if this was where Inazuma Sayuri lives."

"Y-Yes…" He said, sending a nervous glance his sister's way. "I'm her younger brother, Inazuma Kyou."

"Ahh…" Toka gifted the young man a warm smile. "May you please tell your sister that the Hokage asks for her to come to his office as soon as possible?"

Kyou gulped inwardly, dreading that his suspicions might be true. Then again, she was smiling so warmly that it couldn't be anything serious, "Yes, Senju-sama."

"That is all," Toka said before disappearing in a puff of smoke. He closed the door and began to walk back towards the living room where his family was located at.

"What was that all about?" Kaito asked his son.

"Hokage-sama requests to see Nee-chan in his office as soon as possible," Kyou said, trying to keep his dread out of his tone. Kaito and Aina looked at each other before slowly turning to look at their only daughter.

"What could he want with me?" Sayuri asked, puzzled herself, "did… whoever that came tell you anything else? Like why does he want me there or anything?"

"No," the younger brother shook his head.

"Huh," Sayuri said, standing up from her spot, "well I guess I have no choice but to go see him then," she looked at her father who was nodding.

"Yes, you go do that…" Kaito nodded.

And with that, Sayuri left her new home. She held her forehead protector in her hand, looking at the shining metal plate with the symbol of her village engraved on it, _"I wonder what he wants with me…"_

* * *

><p>Sayuri walked down the hallways in the Administration building, looking around rather curiously since it was her first time to set foot in said building. Ninjas came walking to and fro, carrying scrolls containing requests, missions, reports and the like. The Inazuma heiress shuddered at the thought of having to make a report.<p>

She stopped, looking at the sign hanging out a door that had the word 'Hokage' written on it. _"Guess this is the place,"_ she told herself, raising a hand to knock on the door. A deep voice told her to proceed to enter and she placed a hand on the doorknob, pushing it open.

"Umm… You wanted to see me, Hokage-sama?"

"Ah, Sayuri-san," Hashirama gave her a very welcoming smile, motioning for her to sit down on one of the chairs in front of his desk. He eyed the young kunoichi, blinking when he noticed all the bandages and Band-Aids stuck to her, "umm… Are you ok, Sayuri-san?"

Sayuri looked bewildered for a moment, wondering why he would ask such a question when she remembered that she was all bandaged up from the little 'spar' she had earlier. "Umm, yeah, I'm fine… sir. Just had a little spar and got a little more banged up than I hoped to be,"

"Oh," Hashirama nodded understandingly, "just moved into the village and already went for a spar, huh? Nice way to keep your skills sharp,"

"Yeah,"

"So anyway, I was going to ask you if you would like to take on a mission…"

"M-Mission?" Sayuri's eyes widened considerably, as her superior nodded in agreement, "S-Sure! I'll take it on, no problem!"

Hashirama chuckled, liking Sayuri's enthusiasm, "It's a hunting mission to track down a group of rogue nins that were stirring up trouble in the nearby towns. You will be going on a team along with two other-"

"Wait…Three man team?" Sayuri interrupted, and was frankly surprised that the Hokage himself didn't even seem too offended by the fact that she cut him off mid-speech, "so this is no solo mission?"

"I'm afraid not…" the Hokage shook his head, "is there a problem with that…?"

"N-No…" Sayuri voiced out, slumping slightly, "just… who are my teammates exactly?"

"Oh, that would be Sarutobi Sasuke and my brother, Senju Tobirama-" Hashirama blinked, looking at her expression, which was a clear mix of shock and disbelief. "Umm… Is something the matter, Sayuri-san?"

Sayuri took a moment to try and collect herself before saying, "No… there… there is no problem,"

"Good." Hashirama nodded, "so do you accept the mission?"

"Yes…" She sighed, a bit reluctantly, but tried to hide it from her voice.

"Ok then, you will meet by the Konoha gates tomorrow, early morning and begin your travel to the town of Tanazuka Gai."

"Hai," Sayuri nodded curtly, standing up from the comfortable chair she was sitting on, "is that all?"

"Yes," Hashirama smiled at her, "you are free to go."

Sayuri smile back slightly, doing another curt nod before turning away, heading towards the door to leave. Once she got out of the office, she kept walking all the way down until she got out of the Administration Building, but still once question still lingered in her mind.

"_Why him?" _

* * *

><p>The morning had dawned over Konoha as the sun slowly rose, painting the still indigo sky with some splashes of yellow and orange. Tobirama stared out of the forest outside the gate of Konoha, fully ignoring Sasuke who was still trying to negotiate his way out of having to buy dinner after the mission.<p>

"Come on, at least pay half, huh?" Sasuke said, giving a big grin. Tobirama slowly shook his head, making a pout spread its way across the Sarutobi's face. "… How 'bout quarter, then?"

"No, Sasuke." Tobirama finally spoke up, looking at his friend, "a deal's a deal. Plus you were the one who suggested it,"

"If I knew you were going to leave me in the dust before I even said go, then I would've never had suggested that!" The brown haired man huffed, "fine. But I'm only paying for one meal. If you want seconds, pay for it yourself!"

"Duly noted," Tobirama grinned before looking up to the sky, which was turning into a pale blue color, "who do you think the third member is?"

"Could be anybody," Sasuke shrugged, "I mean… he or she could come from any clan."

The two continued to ramble on, completely unaware of the person watching them. Sayuri walked out of an alley way, frowning when she saw her two 'teammates' standing by, having a conversation, waiting for her to come. She briefly wondered if they even knew she was their additional teammate.

Tobirama suddenly perked up, sensing someone nearby, listening to their conversation. He spun around, only to meet eyes with a familiar looking kunoichi. Sasuke spotted her too, and recovered his voice first.

"Hey… Aren't you-"

"Yeah, it's me," Sayuri said, stepping out of her hiding place, headed towards the two shinobi. "Look, as much as we dislike each other right now, I'm your new teammate. The Hokage assigned me to be,"

Tobirama and Sasuke blinked, looking at each other then back at the young woman standing in front of them. Sayuri sighed, placing her hands on her hips,

"You two should know by now that I don't have a lot of patience on me, so let's hurry up and get this over with."

Sasuke pouted and Tobirama nodded and suddenly he realized something, "With everything that happened yesterday, we didn't even get to introduce ourselves properly,"

"Well, I already know your name," The black haired Inazuma said, pointing at Tobirama before moving her finger towards Sasuke, "and you are…?"

"Sasuke. Sarutobi Sasuke," The Sarutobi said with a frown, not liking the somewhat arrogant aura surrounding the kunoichi. "How about you?"

"Sayuri. Inazuma Sayuri." She said, "Well now that the introductions are over, can we go?"

"Hn," Tobirama scoffed, "welcome to Cell number one, Sayuri."

* * *

><p><strong>MEEP. BRAND NEW EDITED VERSION OF CHAPTER TWO, PEOPLE. :D Hope you all enjoyed reading that. ^^ The edited version of chapter 3 should come soon enough and after that comes the long-awaited chapter 4! ^w^<strong>

**Make sure to review! Tell me what you think of the story so far! ^^**


	3. Conflict

**Naruto © Masashi Kishimoto. ^^**

Chapter 3-

The leaves rustled upon being moved by a quick gust of wind moving by. Sounds of footfalls on the branches sounded as three silhouettes sped across the treetops, their quick movement concealing their appearances as they appeared to be nothing more than black blurs using the forest as a camouflage.

Tobirama sped up ahead, landing on another branch only to hop up onto another one, his teammates following closely behind him.

"How much farther 'till we get to Tanazuka?" Sasuke asked, appearing right beside the white haired Senju.

"We're nearly there," Tobirama answered him before jumping off the branch and landed on the ground below. Sasuke and Sayuri followed in suit, landing beside him. Three heads, one black, one brown and one silver whipped around to face the small town beyond the gates. It wasn't very large at all, in fact it seemed like it could be just a tad bit bigger than Konoha's marketplace.

"So… I'm guessing this is the place, huh?" Sayuri said, turning to the Senju for confirmation.

"Right," Tobirama nodded, looking up at the sign hanging up above the gates that read 'Tanazuka Gai' and began to step into the small town.

Sasuke followed behind his friend, looking around at the civilians who were all staring at them curiously. He noticed that they zoned in on their forehead protectors first before looking really relieved, possibly at the fact that they were ninja sent from an actual village and not rogue ones who attacked their town.

Sayuri was also taking a look around and noticed that while some people looked relieved, others looked somewhat scared. Her brown eyes caught sight of a pair of men whispering to each other and throwing curious looks at them.

"Hey, isn't that… Senju Tobirama?" she heard one say. Her eye flew to the white haired Senju walking before her and was surprised that he didn't seem to notice… Well that or he was just plainly ignoring them.

"Heh, I can't tell if they're happy to see us or not," Sasuke whispered to the two of them, beginning to feel the uncertainty of some villagers.

"Well, can't really blame them," Sayuri shrugged, "it was ninja who attacked their village in the first place, they must be all rattled up sti-"

She stopped mid-speech, hearing the familiar whizzing of some weapon cutting through the air. Reacting quickly, she turned around and grabbed the weapon aimed at her and stared at it. It looked to be an ordinary dagger.

Tobirama stared at the weapon before looking at the civilians. _"Who on earth could've-" _Suddenly, he heard a loud yell from the side which seemed to be coming closer and closer to him. He spun around, catching a young man's fist just in time before it could land on him.

"Get out of here right now!" the boy screeched, pitching his strength against the Senju co-leader, "you ninja don't belong here! We don't need your help!"

"I seriously think you got us wrong," Tobirama told him, shoving him away, not wanting to cause any harm to the young man, "we're not here to cause you any trouble!"

"Shut up!" the kid frowned, shaking his head of dark blue hair, "ninja like you are the reason why my daddy is dead! I don't like ninja!"

"Listen kid," Sayuri said and pointed to the forehead protector hanging from her neck, "do you see this symbol? We're from Konoha. We're here to help you get rid of the pesky ninja!" She got ticked off upon seeing that the kid shook his head in disagreement.

"I don't care! All ninja are the same! They're all out to ki-"

"DAIKI! Stop it!"

All three of them flicked their heads up to meet eyes with a man who looked to be somewhere in his mid-fifties. He had greying hair, wrinkles on his face and a small goatee down his chin. His eyes were a greyish-black in color and he wore an outfit similar to what Tobirama and Sasuke would wear off-duty.

The boy named Daiki clicked his tongue in annoyance, glaring at the older man, "They're ninja! They're up to no good, I swear!"

"Daiki, these are ninja the Hokage himself sent to us to help us with our problem. Now, go back home. We'll talk about this later." He instructed in a stern tone. Daiki frowned and scowled at the team before grudgingly turning back home.

"Sheesh…" Sayuri sighed, eyeing the boy as he walked away, "what's his problem?"

"I'm sorry for my grandson's attitude towards you, I'll take his dagger back and make sure he doesn't get a hold of it," the older man apologized, giving them a small polite bow before extending his hand to receive the weapon that Sayuri handed to him, "but I'm really glad that you finally came to our town."

Sasuke nodded curtly, "You must be Takahashi Setsuo, right?"

"Yes I am." Setsuo grinned at them, "now will you follow me please? We'll discuss more of your mission once we get to my house."

Tobirama, Sayuri and Sasuke all followed Setsuo down town. All the time, they kept their eyes open, looking around to see if anyone suspicious was around or if anybody was thinking of doing something funny.

"So… What's the deal with that Daiki kid again? Why exactly did he attack us?" Sasuke questioned. Setsuo sighed, as he turned around the corner, headed towards his house.

"Were you… Were you notified of a recent account of murder when the Hokage explained the mission to you?" the older man inquired.

"Yes, we were." Tobirama nodded to confirm it, "was it someone related to Daiki…?"

Setsuo nodded slowly, his face taking on the expression of sadness and a bit of anger as well. "My son, he got killed while trying to protect Daiki when those rogue nins attacked our town not too long ago. Daiki didn't trust ninja anymore, heck, he wasn't that thrilled when he heard I was hiring ninja from Konoha to help solve our problem."

"Heh," Sayuri scoffed, "once we're done with those pesky rogues, Daiki's going to have a different view on shinobi." She frowned upon hearing Tobirama's loud sigh and saw his head shake slightly.

"Hopefully," Setsuo smiled sadly, reaching the house and stepped inside, followed by the shinobi behind him. "Anyway, I was going to ask why you were sent as a team. I thought only Tobirama-sama was going to come for this mission."

"Originally, that was true," Tobirama spoke up to answer Setsuo's question, "but then, the Hokage decided we were going to try a new team system. To test that out, he sent me here with two additional members."

"Ahh…" the middle aged man bobbed his grey head, looking at the two other ninja standing behind the Senju. "And from what clan are you two from?"

"I'm Sasuke, of the Sarutobi clan," Sasuke grinned at the man.

"Sayuri, of the Inazuma." Sayuri said. Setsuo smiled at the team, nodding in approval.

"Well what a fine team we have here then. I trust that you'll be able to complete this mission without a hitch," his wrinkled hand slid a door open, which lead to his office. He sat down on a chair, folding his hands in front of his face. "Now, do you have any other questions?"

"Are there any particular spots where the ninja like to attack often?" Tobirama asked.

"Well… There is the marketplace. Lots of people are around there, it's a perfect place to go wreak some havoc." Setsuo shook his head, "also, there's the gates and the forest beyond it. They might be coming from there too."

"Mmm," Sasuke nodded, "luckily Tanazuka Gai is not a big town, it shouldn't be difficult to go around and watch out for these ninjas."

"Right," Tobirama and Sayuri said simultaneously.

Setsuo nodded, "Well then, you're dismissed. Best of luck on your mission."

"Hai." All three nodded curtly before exiting the office premises.

XoXoXoXo

"So... where do you suggest we look first?" Sayuri asked her two teammates, "There are three spots where the rogues are most likely to attack, which one should we look into first?"

"The market would be a great place to start," Sasuke started, pointing towards the direction of the busy place, "and plus, there's more people there. It would be a good target for anyone looking to stir up some trouble."

The white haired Senju nodded in approval to Sasuke's statement. "But…" He gave a thoughtful look, "I think we should all split up. If we do that, we can cover all three prominent spots, that way they can't escape us no matter what."

"True…" Sayuri nodded, "and if they attack, we just go ahead and face them head on, right?"

"Yes," Tobirama nodded his head, "but take extra caution when it comes to combat. We don't want to cause any unnecessary casualties, now would we?"

Seeing that this was reasonable enough, both Sayuri and Sasuke bobbed their heads in agreement to Tobirama's. The Inazuma grinned, about to open her mouth to tell him where she had wanted to be stationed, but Tobirama beat her to it.

"Ok, so Sasuke, you'll take watch over the gates, that includes the forests beyond." The white haired Senju instructed his senior, pointing towards the direction of the village gates.

"Right," The Sarutobi affirmed.

"Sayuri, you take the marketplace and I'll go keep tabs on the rest of the town just to make sure they don't pop up anywhere unexpect-" he slowed down his speech until he finally came to a stop, frowning when she saw the only kunoichi in their group frown at him.

"Is there a problem?" Tobirama half spat at her.

"Oh nothing," the black haired kunoichi shook her head casually, "it's just that I thought… Who died and made you team leader? I think it should be fair that we get to choose where we want to go, no?"

"Well, I'm just trying to send you to places where your fighting style would be much more effective should enemies ever attack,"

Sasuke gulped, he could practically see the angry vein pop up on his best friend's head and he knew that Sayuri's arrogant smirk wasn't helping at all.

"For example, you're a lightning style user. You can use your jutsus directly on the opponent without having to harm other people! That's perfect for the marketplace where there's bound to be plenty of them so Sasuke can't exactly use his Doton techniques nor can I use my Suiton techniques!"

"Well, you could do smaller jutsus to be concentrated on one enemy! Nobody's asking you to make an entire ocean right here, right now! You just want to show off-"

"That's not even the point-"

"GUYS!" Sasuke stood between the two shinobi who just turned their piercing glares to him.

"What?"

"Calm down! Both of you!" The Sarutobi frowned at them both, "for now can we just follow what Tobirama ordered and just go to our designated positions? The more time you two spend standing here and bantering, the more time we're wasting!"

Tobirama and Sayuri glared at each other before huffing and tearing their sight away from each other's faces. Sasuke sighed, relieved that he had managed to stop their quarrelling before things got embarrassing.

"Fine, remember take caution when attacking," Tobirama said, sliding an eye to look at his teammates, particularly Sayuri, "got it?"

"Heard 'ya loud and clear, captain." The only kunoichi in the group jeered, smirking when she saw Tobirama's eye twitch. Before he could say anything else, she smirked and took off on the rooftops, headed towards her designated position.

Sasuke blinked, looking up at the kunoichi headed towards the market and whipped his head when he heard an exasperated huff beside him. "Man, she seems like a real handful... But I gotta hand it to 'ya," he smirked, "Sayuri's really something, huh? I don't think I've met anyone alive that can push your temper this far, Tobirama."

"There's just something… something in the way she acts that just ticks me off," Tobirama shook his head in disapproval. Sasuke chuckled and slapped his friend on the back, hard, earning a glare from the younger shinobi. "You know if I had one ryo for every time you smacked me real hard, I would be so rich right now."

"Hehe," The Sarutobi grinned at him, "meh, I don't like her attitude any more than you do but, she'll warm up to the system eventually. Right now she just wants to prove her worth and is probably just bitter since she lost to you yesterday,"

"Hm, hopefully. Well, we better go to our positions now,"

Sasuke nodded at his friend before Tobirama took off to the East side of the town on the opposite side of the market and he too went off to the gates to keep watch for any suspicious activity.

XoXoXoXo

Sayuri huffed as she walked around the marketplace, keeping her eyes peeled for anything that seemed suspicious. So far, nothing had appeared and nobody had come to attack her with any sort of weapon whatsoever.

"_Hmph, who does he think he is, ordering me around like that? Nobody voted him to be team leader…" _she sighed in her mind. Her brown eyes flicked upwards and blinked when she caught sight of Daiki appearing right around the corner. Daiki flicked his grey eyes up and frowned at the sight of the kunoichi walking towards him.

"What? Not going to throw a dagger at me this time?" The Inazuma joked, frankly surprised that the boy didn't lunge at her and tried to bite her head off.

Daiki glared at her, "Hn, Grandpa told me not to attack you guys, but that doesn't change my mind. I still hate ninjas."

"Clearly," Sayuri rolled her eyes, as if she needed any proof to prove that, "but seriously, you shouldn't judge every single shinobi based on what one blundering idiot did," She eyed the dagger that Daiki was trying to conceal from her sight.

"So, your grandpa gave it back to you, huh?"

"Who says he gave it back?" Daiki frowned, his grip on the blade tightening. Sayuri cocked an eyebrow and a smirk began to crawl up her lips,

"So you stole it back? Your gramps isn't gonna be happy when he hears about that, you know?"

"Hn." The blue haired boy glowered at the Raiton user. Sayuri sighed, but was still determined to prove Daiki wrong one way or another. The black haired kunoichi began to step away from the boy, off to continue her rounds around the town. Setsuo's grandson continued to eye her suspiciously, not trusting her at all.

Suddenly, Sayuri's brown eyes narrowed considerably before she spun around, reaching into her shuriken pouch and fired several of the metal stars right at Daiki. The blue haired boy clicked his tongue, _"I knew they couldn't be trusted!" _he brought out the dagger, ready to defend, but the shuriken didn't hit him and instead collided with a couple of kunais aimed at him.

"DAIKI!" Sayuri shouted at him, "RUN!"

Daiki blinked his ashen eyes for a while, too confused to move when suddenly, a bomb dropped between him and Sayuri, exploding with a large bang and covering the place with smoke.

Sayuri closed her eyes, covering her mouth and nose with her sleeve just in case it was anything poisonous. Sounds of screaming and terror rang from all around her as well as the sound of carts and stalls being toppled over. She opened her chocolate eyes, guessing that it was safe to do so, just in time to see the rogue ninja charging at her to her left.

She picked up some senbon from her pouch, channelling some of her lightning chakra into them, "Raiton: Kaminari Hari!" she cried, firing them directly at the ninja, paralyzing him as they embedded themselves into his skin. A smirk played its way across her face as she charged towards she paralyzed sap, drawing out a kunai and thrusting it straight into the man's heart, granting him a quick, painless death. She pulled out the kunai, dripping with blood before turning to face another ninja headed for her.

"AAAAAHHHH!" A cry went out and her eyes widened, realizing who it was.

"_Damn it!" _Sayuri cried in her mind, doing the Kaminari Hari on the ninja who was charging at her before hopping out of the cloud of smoke into the rooftops. She quickly scanned the area, trying to locate the shinobi who had taken Daiki.

"_Found you!" _She thought, spotting Daiki's head of blue hair. The Inazuma heiress chased after the ninja through the rooftops and in her haste, didn't notice another rogue trying to sneak up on her from behind.

"SAYURI GET DOWN!"

Sayuri's head snapped up just as a bullet of water zoomed right over her head, taking out the ninja behind her completely. A flash of silver and brown dropped before her and she found herself staring into a pair of red eyes and another pair of brown ones.

"How many ninja appeared down there?" Tobirama asked, grimacing at the havoc below.

"I have no idea; they threw a smoke bomb so I couldn't exactly count,"

"So what are you doing up here?" Sasuke asked her.

"I'm chasing after the idiot who took Daiki," Sayuri said. Tobirama and Sasuke's eyes widened considerably as they turned to look at each other.

"I'll handle the situation down there," Sasuke volunteered, looking at the craziness happening below, "you two chase after Daiki." he jumped down, immediately forming seals and blowing mud straight out of his mouth as the two other members of Cell One continued to chase after the ninja who took Setsuo's blue haired grandson.

* * *

><p><strong>Woohoo~! Chapter 3 is finally up and running! I had a bit of trouble as to how the rogues will make their entrance and that's why it took so long. Took me 3 edits for me to be satisfied. XD <strong>

**Soo... Read and review please! :D**


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